Monday, February 20, 2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

So my loyal companion was senselessly assaulted in the ole factory by a most vicious attacker. Luckily I had my camera on the ready and captured this image of the event.Here is a recipe I found on the interweb that slightly works for taking the skunk off a dog- !However! do not get it in your dogs eyes ears or mouth! also don't make it in a closed container- cuz it fizzes and don't try and store it or it will splode.! that said:1 quart of hydrogen peroxide1/4 cup of baking sodaone tablespoon of dish soap.wipe of as much of the oil off as you can,(paper towels, or cloth, not a good one that you plan on keeping) then use this mix , let it sit for a few and rinse and repeat. then wash several times with some dish soap or shampoo.After that look disapprovingly at the dog, and make snide sarcastic comments about how uncool that shit is. Here is the website with this recipe and helpful other stuff. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/skunk.htmAlso skunk smell is worse than I ever imagined, never again will I doubt that as an awesome defense. I actually got dizzy and disoriented, and my sorry mutt was a bit blinded(temporarily). Needless to say we fled. Before this I thought it a bit weak, like the kid that had heart as his power on capt. planet.What is heart gonna do against serious polluters? not shit, thats what. Also here is video for that as well.http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5876f2aced/don-cheadle-is-captain-planet

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Wells wells wells.Its that time when I start breaking ground. Getting the cover crop turned in, and getting ready to plant potatoes(so many tatoes) and all of the lovely Brassicas aka crucifers that we know and love ( Kale Collards Cabbage Broccoli Cauliflower, and other things that smell funky, yet tasty).My cover crops are quite lush this year because of the mild freaky winter, and are gonna feed the soil for me, as well as hold in all those sweet sweet nutrients. I planted Crimson Clover and Winter Rye, because the clover fixes nitrogen, or rather steals it from the air and stores it in little nitrogen sacks on its roots- when I till it I spill it if you will. And the Rye gives me a metric shit ton of biomass, not to mention it takes up lots of nutrients and then gives them back as it breaks down, otherwise that stuff would just wash away. So I guess what it breaks down to is cover cropping helps me outwardly be the cheapskate I know I am on the inside. Nah just playin. it cost a lot more to cover crop, but building biomass is the best way to improve your soil. Especially if you have poor soil to begin with.(Not to mention all the spilling of seed jokes that you can wow co-workers and neighbors with as they wonder what yer doing) There are all types of soil sandy, clay etc. Mine was classified as "shitty" or sickly clay so I am always thrilled when I can add to it. otherwise everything you harvest, as in take things away, your taking without giving back. That can only fly for so long before you've got a dust bowl on your hands.Here are the same spots a day later, after tilling in that clover and rye. In about three weeks it will get amended and planted in. All them new little plants are gonna ravenously consume those sweet little cover crop plants and just like the one lion said to the smaller one- something something the circle of life etc.. Cue Elton John- holler

Friday, February 10, 2012

Its that time of year when the mysterious boxes start showing up at the house.Every couple days another one shows up on the stoop. They are packed with all those envelopes from the full color spreads of many a magazine. I wish it were a little more glamorous than it sounds. Instead of food porn catalogues, if they were regular porn magazines I'd have lots of sexual aid pills( Viagra Rich as they say), If they were Highlights Magazines my dinosaur sticker collection would be mighty , but really if they were out of Boy's Life I would have spent enough to get that Hovercraft.

Instead they are many a seed, all sorts of varieties that I can't wait to try, old standbys some that I'm luke warm too, and a bunch that I swore off and in a December moment of weakness found myself ordering only to regret it upon arrival- Does the world really need Kiwano Jelly melons?(answer,no) and why the mother F did I order 48 types of tomatoes...yes really. That was a scaled back number. I tried to get crazier, but luckily my lumbar spoke up.The real exciting part is laying them all out, and pretending that they are trading cards, huge stacks of them. Except these do actually come to life and if you play them right they increase their value, but then you have to try and trade them for the green and white cards with the old guys on them. The bad part is that all my friends are hesitant to trade with me. Most of them always want to take their cards and go home. Sometimes if I'm lucky I can trade a German Johnson rookie card or an autographed Cherokee Purple for a tattered George Washington. Once I even finagled a trade for a fat stack of Abraham Lincoln copper Pogs.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

I've been busy on this overcast day, it was well spent in the greenhouse pretending that I know the basic principles of electricity and how it works, and then tripping breakers and admitting I don't.I did however frame and wire in two end wall fans that amazingly still work. One of which I pulled straight from the trash. Its such a satisfying feeling to put all to use with the hopeful end goal of keeping the greenhouse air flowing. It doesn't take much to excite you when you spend all day under a strange plastic bubble, house thingy.

Its awesome to see all those little baby plants crack the soil line and stick their little leaves up.They are getting ready to consume all my time. Allowing for only faint glimmers of social interaction and imbibings between waterings and weedings.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Howdy yallz,Hope 2012 is off to a grand start. I'm sure it is, especially for those of you following the ole Mayan calender. Wait, sorry if your following that one its not good. I was meaning the other other calender. You know the one that says its the year of the water Dragon. I just saw this last night and feel like its sort of like a dragon sighting, only more common,less dangerous, and smaller.Its some old Salamander, who is going to be really confused if winter does in fact show up for a few more weeks. Although it will not be alone. Its too soon for climate change to be full on like this, we still need like 22 years to convince people it might possibly, maybe exist, as a theory that's partially fact based. holler

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lilfarm is in the piedmont of North Carolina...we grow food...we sell it...we have two weekly markets and a CSA...lots of acres 1 busted tractor 2 dogs 300 chickens, and an amazing goal of one day turning a profit.